Thursday, 28 November 2013

The
handicapping of horses is relatively simple; or at least the method of slowing
them down is simple – we pack flat pieces of lead into a thin “satchel” that
slips beneath the saddle, which we call a weight-cloth. There
is an old saying in racing that “weight stops trains” and, as if proof were
required, a recent item in the national media caught my eye: Kevin Chenais –
who suffers from a hormone imbalance and weighs in at 500lb (nearly 36 stone) –
was not allowed to board the Eurostar train that was intended to take him back
to France. In fact the papers reported that he was also “too fat to fly”,
suggesting that weight stops planes too, so it is little wonder that it stops
horses. All
of which is most relevant to this weekend’s feature race, The Hennessy Gold Cup
at Newbury. Top-weight for the £175,000 handicap chase is Cape Tribulation
who has a handicap rating of 158 and will carry 11st 12lb. The 132-rated Whodoyouthink,
carries 26lb less, the minimum weight of 10st. In theory, all of the horses
rated in-between have been given an equal chance and will pass the post in
unison – by which I mean together, not members of a new equine trade union. The
thing is of course, we know that won’t happen – so which of the 21 declared
runners has managed to get away with an inadequate load? Starting
with the horses with the lowest handicap ratings, I like Loch Ba who
carries just 10st 1lb. He may have unfulfilled potential and he ran out of
steam during a recent prep-run at Bangor on soft ground. He’ll be fitter for
that run and I can imagine him fighting out the places at a big price. Also
on my shortlist are Merry King (10st 8lb) and Invictus (10st
13lb). Both horses have shown promise, but Invictus is perhaps the most
interesting as he has been off the track for nearly two years. When last seen,
in his novice season, he comfortably conquered last year’s Hennessy winner (and
Cheltenham Gold Cup hero) Bobs Worth - who is now officially rated 180. A
strict interpretation of the form could leave Alan King’s charge more than 2
stone better off than the competition. Closer
to the head of the weights, Prince de Beauchene (11st 9lb) and Lord
Windermere (11st 8lb) are both high class performers with scope for
improvement. Both are well fancied and will be among the favourites for the
race. But the horse that I am going to recommend is not one of the young,
unexposed, brigade... Imperial
Commander
is a 12-year-old, former Cheltenham Gold Cup winner, who sustained a leg injury
in 2011. He ran a blinder to finish a half-length second to Cape Tribulation
on his return to action ten months ago, before being pulled up in a speculative
attempt at the Grand National. At his peak he earned an official rating of 185
and sneaks into this race on a very generous mark of just 153, converting to a
weight of 11st 7lb. In
the absence of Kevin Chenais, who eventually made it home to France on a ferry and was
reportedly unable to make the weight, Imperial Commander will be
reunited with his Gold Cup winning jockey Paddy Brennan. Win, lose or draw, Imperial
Commander will be retired after the race on Saturday and so I’ll be backing
him with my heart as well as my head.

Friday, 22 November 2013

If
I’m looking a bit teary-eyed at the moment it’s not because Knockara Beau
finished second at Cheltenham last Saturday; although he did run one of those
heart-squelchingly, gutsy, races, where you really wish the stewards would just
place him first. No, I’ve been peeling onions. Yes
onions, because on Friday evening we’ll be welcoming around 110 members of our
casual-staff for a party in the grandstand. They’ll be a bit of music, a drink
or two, a lot of chat and some lasagne. That’s where the onions come in –
there’s also garlic, salt, pepper, tomatoes, beef (supplied by Clare at Furness
Fish, Poultry & Game Ltd – I know… they do beef too!), milk, flour and
cheese. If I’ve forgotten anything, perhaps you could let me know, as soon as
possible, as the hunger of 110 people depends on this turning out alright. The
alternative is crusty bread and butter. The
annual get-together has added significance this year, because it is the final
time that Dorothy Lodge will be attending in her role as Staff Manager – I hope
she will continue to attend for many years as our “former Staff Manager”,
racecard seller, litter picker, envelope stuffer or whatever else she feels
like turning her hand to. As long as her hand recovers that is; because this
week she has been wearing it in a sling following an operation. Together
with her husband, Bruce, they make quite a pair. He has only one hand, following
a misunderstanding with a piece of agricultural equipment some years ago.
They’re not a very good pair; between them they have two left hands and
no right ones at the moment – but they couldn’t be happier together, more
congenial company or more dedicated to their work. While Dorothy coordinates
the race-day staff, Bruce supervises the public crossing point at the end of
the finishing straight. During races he holds a broad white tape across the
track in order to allow the horses with jockeys to pass one way and the ones without to pass the other.
It’s a very important role, as you can be fairly sure that without him, most of
the jockeys wouldn’t know which way to go. On one memorable occasion Bruce made a valiant attempt at catching a loose horse as it veered
towards him and ended up lying on the grass. While Bruce got to his feet and
the Clerk of the Course and I discussed the safety issues surrounding the
incident, Dorothy summed up their joint commitment to Cartmel races – “At least
he would have died doing something he loved” she said. If you think that I’ve just picked on a couple of "interesting" members of our
race-day team for effect, you should meet the rest of them. I’ve always believed that if you want
to run a racecourse with a bit of character, you have to employ a few. It’ll be
a great party! This weekend’s selections are Gevrey Chambertin (in the Fixed Brush Handicap Hurdle, 2.25 Haydock - he's a full-brother to a previous winner of the race) and
Silviniaco Conti (in the 3.00 at Haydock - a race he won last year).

Thursday, 14 November 2013

Pick
ten horses and win thousands of pounds – it sounds pretty simple
doesn’t it? Each year The Racing Post’s ten-to-follow competition starts just
before the Cheltenham Open Meeting (this weekend) and finishes after the
Grand National in April. The horses, in your fantasy stable, gather points
throughout the season and there are bonus points for winning the major races.
Points mean prizes and there will be at least £400,000 up for grabs. Having
once made an entry which reached the top 100, in December 2011, I consider
myself a bit of an expert. Yes – that’s the closest I’ve come to winning a
prize and no, by the end of the season the same entry wasn’t even in the top
10,000. Anyway… it’s the taking part that counts. Here are my ten for the 2013
/ 14 jumps season. At
Fishers Cross. He’s the young pretender to the World Hurdle crown, won last
year by Solwhit in the absence of the legendary Big Bucks. He’ll have the
assistance on Tony McCoy in the saddle. Attaglance.
There are bonus points for winning the Paddy Power Gold Cup this Saturday, in which
Attaglance sneaks in on 10 stone. His jumping needs to improve, but even if he
fails to pick up this valuable prize, he looks well handicapped for a
profitable season ahead. Captain
Chris. Trained by Philip Hobbs, he is sure to be aimed at the King George VI
Chase in which he has previously finished third and second. I think that those at the head of the betting market have plenty of questions to answer and he has an outstanding chance this year. He could well pop up
again in the Ryanair Chase at the Cheltenham Festival. Colour
Squadron. Another trained by Philip Hobbs, Colour Squadron is still classed as a novice over fences and could clock up a lengthy
sequence of wins. However, he's also engaged in Saturday’s Paddy Power Gold Cup at Cheltenham and it wouldn't be a surprise to see him earn bonus points. First
Lieutenant. Owned by the head of Ryanair, this horse missed the Gold Cup last
year in favour of the Ryanair sponsored 2½ mile chase. The Cheltenham Gold Cup is this
horse’s destiny - expect him to come to the fore in the Spring. Jezki.
Like At Fishers Cross and Colour Squadron, Jezki is owned by J.P. McManus, famed
for his massive tilts at the betting ring. Jezki will pick up several of
Ireland’s top hurdle races before heading to Cheltenham for the Champion Hurdle
in March. Lord
Windermere. Yes, he is in the list because of his name! But the Jim Culloty trained chaser also won the RSA Novice's Chase last season
and is being aimed at the Hennessy Gold Cup at the end of this month. He could be another for the Cheltenham Gold Cup in March. My
Tent Or Yours. Yet another gelding owned by JP McManus; like Jezki he’ll be
bound for the Champion Hurdle, but the difference is that he’s trained in
England – so he can pick up a few of the trial races on this side of the Irish
Channel before then. Sprinter
Sacre. If you forget all the others, make a note of this horse’s name. Pegasus
in disguise, his trainer nick-named him the “black aeroplane”, and he is the
best two-mile chaser of this decade and probably any other decade. Tune in to Channel 4 Racing or RacingUK
every time he runs and watch him fly! The
New One. Trained by Nigel Twiston-Davies, this is another gelding bound for the Champion Hurdle. He always gives his best and is sure to give you an excellent run for your money.

To make your entry go to: www.racingpost.com/ttf . There are 400 horses in the list to choose from, so you don't have to pick the same horses, although I think you'll find these are the best!

Thursday, 7 November 2013

There
are around 10,000 races in Britain each year, which makes you wonder why Tony
McCoy has won only 4,000 in his entire career. What on earth has he been messing around at!About
60% of those races are on the Flat; Tony McCoy rides over jumps, so I suppose
that cuts it down a bit. Then of course there are several race-meetings
taking place each afternoon and he can only be at one of them – unless he takes
a helicopter from one track to another, which has been known. When he is at the
racecourse, he rarely rides in every race either – it’s good to let the other
jockeys have a chance. Besides, he might stand out a bit in one of those
races for lady riders. In
fact it turns out that Tony McCoy doesn’t even win every race he rides in –
only one in every four. Next someone is going to tell me that this is an
unpredictable sport where punters struggle to find winners, while bookmakers
laugh into their deep satchels and the jockeys go home in ambulances. Oh that’s
right, I forgot. Well anyway, despite that, I’ve a good feeling about Sa
Suffit at Kelso on Saturday (2.15pm) – he hasn’t run for eighteen months
and has had a change of trainer, but he used to be a favourite of mine – I’ll
tell you whether he’s still a favourite on Sunday.If
you’ve placed one pound on every horse that Tony McCoy has ridden at Cartmel
during the last 5 years, you’ll be £16.29 better off than you were in 2008.
However, if you’re one of those punters that has been backing him blind at all
racecourses, you’ll have lost £444.96 during the same period – almost as bad as
following the advice in this blog. The moral of this story is that, if you’re one of McCoy’s
fans, you should only come racing at Cartmel and, even then, you would be
better off backing horses ridden by Lucy Alexander – who would have won you £86.13 for a regular one pound stake on all rides. Now that Tony McCoy has landed his 4,000th
winner – a remarkable achievement which will probably never be surpassed - he
should celebrate by going somewhere really special for dinner – like the
restaurant at Miller Howe on the banks of Lake Windermere, one of our race sponsors in August this year.
The winner of the Miller Howe Handicap Steeplechase was ridden by Jamie Moore, but Tony shouldn’t hold
that against them – I visited Miller Howe this week and enjoyed the best meal I’ve eaten in
Cumbria. That’s saying something, given the local (Michelin starred)
competition in Cartmel. At
just £25 for a three course lunch, it was good value too – which may be important if
you missed backing Mountain Tunes, the latest in a very very long line of McCoy winners.

About the Author

Jonathan has made a career out of being a racing geek - having spent time running The Sun newspaper's "Punters Club", the (long departed) Sporting Life's Green-card Service, Worcester Racecourse, Fontwell Park, Scottish Racing Marketing Ltd and now the iconic Cartmel Racecourse.

In his spare time he likes to study form and go to the races.

All opinions, recommendations or forecasts, expressed or implied within the blog or website, are for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial advice.

Users are solely responsible for any consequences resulting from acting on information included in the blog or on the website. Neither Jonathan Garratt nor Cartmel Racecourse is in anyway liable for any direct, indirect or consequential loss, damage or expense incurred by readers or users of the blog or website.

Where applicable, independent financial advice should be obtained. Past results are not in any way a guarantee of future success.